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Economy top of agenda at Lib Dem conference

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Published Date: 13 March 2009
Scottish Liberal Democrats will debate measures to revive the economy when they gather today for their annual spring conference.
The three-day event will discuss a detailed package of measures but the party's recent call for a 2p Holyrood tax cut is not in the list.
Instead they will call on Westminster to cut taxes for low and middle earners while raising them for the rich.

Tavish Scott, facing his first spring conference since being elected party leader last year, said the 2p cut call was no longer on the table as there is no way of pushing it further in Holyrood without support from parties.

The conference will be dominated by the economy and by the Lib Dems call for devolution to shift towards a federal model, with Holyrood getting more legislative and financial powers.

But first debate today will be on a ban on tobacco vending machines as part of a wider package of measures to discourage cigarette sales.

Party leader Nick Clegg will not be attending the conference in Perth.
His wife Miriam gave birth last month to their third child.

His place at Perth will be taken by deputy leader Vince Cable, who addresses the conference on Saturday.

Mr Scott said before the conference: "Liberal Democrats have been realistic, plain-speaking and focused on the practical action needed to tackle the biggest recession for generations.

"The recession is hurting people badly. Just yesterday, Dundee-based firm NCR announced the loss of 250 jobs, a devastating blow for the area.

"This weekend, we will be setting out our practical plan to help families and businesses. By Sunday afternoon we will have shown that we a party with will rebuild the jobs, homes and hopes that recession has destroyed."




The full article contains 299 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

 
1

Liberal for life,

Dunblane 13/03/2009 09:04:23
Apoart from the recent problems at NCR in Dundee the pain suffered by SME's in particular is a cause of great concern as they are both the bedrock of the private economy as well as of our local communities throughout Scotland, the UK, and indeed the whole of the EU.

But we have it in our own hands to help or hinder SME development. However the big problem for many SME's right now is the criterai used by Procurement people as their decisions tend to favour the larger multinationals every time at the expense of many local jobs. They never take into account the impact of their policies in the social and economic equation yet try to explain they are working in the PUBLIC interest by bundling contracts that work to exclude local companies from tendering often for work they have won over many years of good service. In other words doing their bit with their local publicly funded organisations that have a big spending power as we all know.

This is an area we need to address very soon before the whole lot disappears and competition, real competition, will be a thing of the past.

Politicians of all parties often talk the talk but never seem to get procurement people to walk the walk.

We will try our best this weekend to raise awareness of this sinister impact on local economies at the exense of public money raised from private individuals taxation, that can often cost us local jobs.

Its a no brainer in my book. Its a vicious circle and we need to break it asap!
2

Doh,

13/03/2009 09:08:07
#1

See you in Perth!

Unfortunately when unemployment reaches 3 million I do wonder if the next stage is social unrest.
3

bully wee alba,

Edinburgh 13/03/2009 09:15:38
Go back to your constituencies, and prepare..............................................an evening meal!
4

Munguin,

13/03/2009 09:15:55
Who cares whats top of the Lib Dems agenda? The now fourth party of Scotland (behind even the Tories) can talk about whatever it likes in Perth but more than usual no one will be listening!

Great idea to get Vince Cable to speak instead of Nick Clegg. They may get some TV coverage of him as he is the only decent thing they have. They ought to try to extend his speech for the whole three days!

I don't think we are going to forget that for 8 years the Lib Dems were a part of the actual government of Scotland, so they can no longer jump on whatever populist band wagon comes along. How well did they do in Glasgow East and Glenrothes?
5

,

13/03/2009 09:26:54
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6

Doh,

13/03/2009 09:37:43
#5

All the LibDem MSPs were elected on the basis of being oppossed to an referendum - that was Nicol Stephen's position during the Holyrood election.

Why is that undemocratic?

Are only SNP members allowed to be elected in your new Scotland.
7

,

13/03/2009 09:53:45
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8

,

13/03/2009 10:03:10
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9

Observer,,

Glasgow 13/03/2009 10:07:46
I heard Brian Taylor on the radio this morning saying that the Libs were ''becalmed''. That was kind.
10

bill-alba,

fife 13/03/2009 10:15:54
doh I say again doh....nowhere in the 2007 manifesto does it mention being apposed to a referendum they are very undemocratic like the rest of their treachourous british friends.
11

BillyC,

Paisley 13/03/2009 10:36:18
This will be the Scottish Liberal Democrats that are funded from England.

Of course they don't want independence, they want a federal system because they don't want to lose their funding from England as they would become even more irrelevant in Scotland without it.

These people are quite happy for £millions to be wasted on Scottish MP's doing nothing at Westminster as long as it suits them financially!
www.paisleyexpressions.blogspot.com
12

Tris,

13/03/2009 10:53:04
#4 I think Munguin is right. We tend to think of 8 wasted years of Labour government in Scotland, when it was in fact 8 wasted years of Liberal/Labour government. They may have only had 2 cabinet ministers, but they were complicit in the decisions taken by Labour.

They can't stand on the sidelines in Scotland, as they do in England, secure in the knowledge that no matter what they say, they will never have to come good on it. They have played with the big boys in Scotland, had power, and made a mess of it.
13

Doh,

13/03/2009 11:08:27
#15

The LibDem/Labour coalition was a success.

It was only defeated by Labour's record at Westminster - i.e. Iraq, ID cards etc.

#12

Are you serious? During the election when asked on several occasions Nicol Stephen made it clear that he was oppossed to a referendum.

That is democratic and neither liberal or illiberal.

Cybernats grow up fer fecks sake.
14

Munguin,

13/03/2009 11:38:15
#7 yes a quite hilarious performance from Tavish on Politics Now.

How dare he go on about Dundee (and its over 500 jobs lost) a city that neve vote for him or his party. They are Liberal only with hypocracy which they clearly lay on with a trowl.

The count for the Maryfield by-election will commence in Dundee today at 2pm. Lets see how well the Lib Dems do in that? Hopefully we will see the end of the unholy rainbow coalition of Labour, Lib Dems and (yes!) the Tories running the city. And Provost John Letford the Margaret Thatcher of Dundee politics in tems of going on and on and on and on may well be joining the proverbial dole queue. The point is, here in Dundee the Lib Dems dont give a fig for the wishes of Dundonians or their obvious desire not to have the continuation of a very minority Labour led council!
15

Tris,

13/03/2009 11:51:40
#16. It's always a matter of opinion whether a government has been successful or not. You and I seem to disagree about whether the Liberal/Labour Government delivered the kind of policies that were needed for Scotland as opposed to the United Kingdom.

#5. Tavish was certainly put on the spot on Politics Now. He seemed incapable of seeing that a general election is for voting on a wide range of issues from education to health to transport and all of the other functions for which the government has responsibility. It is NOT the right place for a "referendum" on independence, any more than a gereal election for London is the right place for a "referndum" on the Lisbon Treaty. Some things are just too important to be taken as part of the whole. Tavish seems determined to ignore, or to not understand that.

Is there a feeling that Tavish won't be the leader much after the next election?
16

Thomas79,

Ayrshire 13/03/2009 12:03:25
Why is it undemocratic to obstruct the people having a say on their constitutional future?

Surely this is obvious - even for Lib Dem supporters
17

,

13/03/2009 12:13:43
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18

Yok Finney,

Ross-shire 13/03/2009 12:17:54
People voted for them which much express some disaffection with the Westminster 2 party system yet the Lib Dems have had no criticism the UK economic system until today. I repair boats so I think I know something about ROT. This was clearly evident ~ 1980 in the world of finance and the great deregulations and privatisations (basically theft). Where were the Lib Dems?

Liberalism and Democracy are promoted by the world banking order - even militarly imposed on Nations - but the correct word is Tyranny.

It's time we foreclosed on this (Westminster) party.
19

For Scotlands Future,

Vote for the SNP 13/03/2009 12:32:37
This is the political party that was on the point of going bankrupt a few months back. And we are supposed to listen to them tell us that they know how to manage the economy.

Imagine having a national party in charge of the UK who couldn't even manage their own party finances, pleading for contributions to pay off their debts. UNTHINKABLE.

I've seen it all over the world: those political parties who name themselves "Liberal", Democratic", "Freedom" etc, etc, usually end up the opposite.

Liberal Democrats in Scotland have demonstrated that they are neither Liberal nor Democratic.
20

Doh,

13/03/2009 12:33:40
#21 Yok

You talk a lot of ROT.

The LibDems have been critical of the economic situtation for quite some time - even going back to the 70s when they expressed dismay at the cycle of nationalisation and privitisation.

In recent years - Vince Cable has been warning about the credit-boom - that is just a simple fact.

I am sorry you are so prejudiced you cant even think through an issue - you have foreclosed your brain a long time ago.

It is time - you grew up.
21

For Scotlands Future,

Vote for the SNP 13/03/2009 12:48:51
Perhaps they should change their name to:
"That small party that attracts the protest vote in England, but in Scotland has no relevance since the SNP have shown itself as the real alternative to Westminster controlled parties, and has actually become a ruling party, whereas we could only get there by crawling up Labour's B u m.".
22

Doh,

13/03/2009 13:11:31


Good to see that the SNP have backed-down on leasing out Scotland's Forests - after strong opposition from the LibDems.

A victory for common sense over Nationalist dogma.
23

,

13/03/2009 13:23:40
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24

ZenBroon,

13/03/2009 13:54:57
An empty taxi drew up outside Perth Concert Hall and the Scottish Liberal Democrats got out.
25

Alan B,

13/03/2009 14:20:30
#16 Doh

"The LibDem/Labour coalition was a success."

On what basis do you think this government was a success. From my perspective it was pretty poor.

For one thing the standard of labour ministers a governance was awful. None of the 3 first ministers during this period shone.

In many ways the lib dem desire for more power for the scottish parliament underpinned the reasons for the failures in scottish governance during this time. With more powers as desired by the lib dems then the parliament and exec of the day would have had a far better chance in transforming scotland.

The most important part of running a country is the economy. With economic powers held a westminster and browns disasterous economic management it is no wonder scotland failed to address its economic problems of slow growth. The lib dems/lab exec did not have a chance. Having said that i do not think labour having the economic tools avail in the scottish parliament would have a clue what to do with them.

What the scottish exec under the lib dem/lab coalition did do was spend alot more money made available by Brown as he plunged the uk into a totally unsustainable fiscal position.
26

,

13/03/2009 14:24:57
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27

Alan B,

13/03/2009 15:38:01
#Doh

I am surprised you do not see why people think the lib dems are wrong from a democratic point of view not to support a referendum.

No one is asking the lib dems to support independence but support the right for the people to choose their preferred constitutional setup via a referendum.

While thatcher etc did not support the concept of referenda and believed in parliament controlling such things all the parties now support the concept of referenda for constitutional matters as we can see over europe and devolution etc.

As such if you conceptually believe in referendum to allow the people to choose constitutional matters, then it is undemocratic to go against that ideal just because you think you may not win the referendum.

Parties should never be afraid of the judgement of the people and should not try to subvert democracy and try to prevent the people from deciding.

Personally i think the lib dems would have been much better appealing to the snp for a gradualist strategy with a 2 step process. ie first a referendum for a strong scottish parliament within the uk ie full fiscal autonomy etc and then allowing a referendum on full independence a few yrs later. They should be confident that their believe in a highly devolved sp is the one that the people want and they have the support of the people for that. By achieving dev max first of all then they would have removed many reasons for independence.

In many ways the more you devolve the less need for independence but on the other hand the more you devolve the less you can scare people into the union and play labours negative card about scotland as a bannana republic.
28

Doh,

13/03/2009 16:23:31
#30 Alan

I never said *I* was against a referendum - I was trying to refure the childless SNP taunts of being
"undemocratic and illiberal" just because a politican fights an election oppossed to a referendum and then once elected stands by his position.

Some might regard that as quite admirable especially when the inducement of ministerial posts was on offer.

You, or the diehard nats, might as well recognise that isnt going to change in this parliament - the argument now is what happens after the next election - can a common programme of government be agreed and can there be a referendum on a federal option?

Yes, I think the SNP are being undemocratic and illiberal for not backing a referendum on a federal option - let us have that first - not a confusing three-option referendum.

As good liberal democrats I am sure the SNP will agree to that.


29

,

13/03/2009 16:41:38
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30

,

13/03/2009 16:43:03
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31

Doh,

13/03/2009 17:34:50
#34 Traquir

Since this is a story about the LibDems you wont mind me pointing out that the LibDems thrashed the Tories
into fourth place.

The LibDems get 50% more votes than the Tories.

I think David Cameron will be considering his position.
32

,

13/03/2009 17:42:40
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33

Doh,

13/03/2009 17:51:06
#37

Always nice to see the Tories coming fourth.

But no doubt about it a good result for the SNP.


34

,

13/03/2009 18:08:04
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35

BIG EYE,

Paisley 14/03/2009 01:16:09
A once great Party reduced to a rump by a leadership that rejects the Claim of Right and which now rivals the Labour Party in negative politics.

How Sad!
36

Unelectedbythepeople,

Edinburgh 14/03/2009 04:05:21
Which phone box is this being held in?
37

Peter Curran,

Kirkliston 14/03/2009 07:27:02
After his expert skewering of Iain Gray on the contradictions on his vote against the referendum at Holyrood, Bernard Ponsonby turned his increasingly expert and penetrating interviewing style on Tavish Scott, on 'Politics Now', STV's flagship political analysis programme.

The LibDem leader twisted and turned, becoming increasingly ratty as Ponsonby pursued him on why his party, who had supported Labour - a party with whom they had profound disagreements on nuclear policy and the Iraq war - was now supporting Labour in opposition to the Scottish government's plans for a referendum on independence.

Scott ducked and weaved, first trying to deflect the question by saying that it was irrelevant during the recession, then falling back on his core defence - that the Scottish people had a vote on independence at a general election. Ponsonby disposed of this argument quickly, persisting with his question.

Tavish Scott became increasingly agitated, demanding to know why he should support a party - the SNP - committed to independence when he personally was totally against it. This of course begged the question of why he was supporting a war-mongering, nuclear-obsessed party - Labour - when his party was fundamentally opposed to both.

Tavish Scott's position becomes increasingly untenable, and I suspect a substantial number of his supporters are now unhappy with his unionist-obsessed leadership. He failed to provide any convincing explanation as to why Nick Clegg was not coming to the Scottish LibDem conference, and why, in fact, he had not even been invited.

We know why, Tavish. It's because neither you nor your party give a damn about Scotland or the Scottish people's democratic rights. The LibDems are neither liberal nor democratic.

http://moridura.blogspot.com
38

Munguin,

Broughty Ferry 14/03/2009 10:09:07
Whats going on with the Scotsman today? I am not a huge fan of this paper but at least it allows us to post without censorship. But I can't understand why they have nothing regarding the Maryfield by-election result here in Dundee on their blogs!

The printed editon has it in the news section on the front page with a larger, and to be fair unbiased, larger article on page 6. I understand that it needs to sell the paper edition but it's now after 10 so why not let us have a blog on it? Come on Johnson Press get the finger out and let us have our say on this as you describe it "major blow to Labour and Gordon Brown". Nobody gives a hoot about the Lib Dems in Perth!
39

Munguin,

14/03/2009 10:10:35
Oh and just to show I am not biased the Herald also has it in their politics section on page 6.
40

The Former Mr. Angry,

Perth 14/03/2009 10:34:04
No, agenda item number one should be:-

"What are we for?"

That should take up the entire conference. Suggestions on a postcard to Tavish Scott.
41

Tartan Viking,

14/03/2009 11:26:21
What a pointless little party the Fibs are. By all means away and have your wee conference but it wont make a hoot of difference.
42

Tartan Viking,

14/03/2009 11:29:00
Tavish Scott.

Ho ho ho ho ho ho. I take this guy as seriously as I did Joke McConnell. If you wand something to snigger about today just recall that picture of wee Jokey standing there is his wee kilt. How funny was that.
43

The west awake,

Argyll 14/03/2009 20:52:04
If they had 72 items on their agenda, everyone at the conference could have a turn at speaking, how Liberal!

 

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